MOSCOW. Jan 15 (Interfax) - Russia is ready to support dialogue between the United States and North Korea regarding Pyongyang's nuclear program, including in the six-nation format, since a military solution would have catastrophic consequences, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference to review the events of 2017.
"After the double freeze [initiative of Russia and China], the double moratorium on unfriendly and confrontational moves takes effect, we will be actively supporting direct contacts between the most interested sides, which are Pyongyang and Washington above all, in the context of the nuclear problem. We will be ready to support their bilateral dialogue within the framework of the so-called six-nation negotiating process, as well," Lavrov said.
"This is probably the most pressing issue Russia and China are currently addressing on their mutual agenda," he said.
"I have said before that the U.S. has been unceremoniously speaking of the unavoidable military solution, although everyone realizes the catastrophic consequences of this reckless move," Lavrov said.
"Whenever conditions for a dialogue were created, provocative steps, such as increasingly extensive military exercises near North Korea, followed in most cases, triggering a new outbreak of tensions," he said.
"We have a joint roadmap with China, and we will be actively promoting it," Lavrov said.